STUDENTS FORCED TO RETAKE MEAP WRITING TEST
JACKSON, Mich. — The fifth and sixth grade students across
Michigan who recently took the writing portion of the Michigan
Educational Assessment Program test will have to retake it after
a Jackson Citizen Patriot reporter revealed the writing prompts
in a feature article, according to The Citizen Patriot.

State officials are still determining the details of the
statewide re-examination, and it is unclear how many of the
260,000 fifth and sixth graders will be affected. MEAP testing
typically takes place in three-week windows to fit district
schedules. This testing period began Oct. 8 and will end on Oct.
26, The Citizen Patriot reported.

"We haven't come up against this problem until now," Martin
Ackley, spokesperson for the Michigan Department of Education,
told The Citizen Patriot.

State officials are completing an investigation on the Jackson
Community Schools, and the district may face repercussions,
according to Ackley. The MEAP office also sent out letters to
school districts explaining that Michigan's Adequate Yearly
Progress status may be in jeopardy if the writing test is deemed
invalid by the U.S. Department of Education, according to The
Citizen Patriot.

The author of the news story, Chad Livengood, was allowed by
school officials to interview students and was unaware of the
effect his story would have, The Citizen Patriot reported.

"I feel bad about the problems this simple feature story has
caused," Livengood told The Citizen Patriot. "I apologize for
any problems this story created, but I'm not an expert on MEAP
rules."

FURTHER READING:
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Which Educational
Achievement Test is Best for Michigan? A Comparison of the MEAP,
SAT-9, and ITBS," Sept. 8, 2002
http://www.mackinac.org/4622

LEGISLATURE CONTINUES "EQUITY PAYMENT"
LANSING, Mich. — Under the state's new budget deal, at least $20
million will be spent on districts with a foundation allowance
below a certain amount, according to The Muskegon Chronicle.

Legislators are still uncertain as to how much districts may
receive, but House Education Chairman Tim Melton said three-fourths of the state's public school districts and charter
schools could receive these funds. The state's goal is to
decrease the gaps between district foundation allowances. Last
year, district foundation allowances ranged from $7,085 to more
than $12,000, The Chronicle reported.

The Legislature also included a 1 percent funding increase for
public schools. Through the deal, districts could receive an
additional $70 per pupil from the state, The Chronicle reported.

"School districts all over are losing students," Mona Shores
Superintendent Terry Babbitt told The Chronicle. "So even when
you get a per-pupil increase, if you're losing students you're
continuing to lose ground."

FURTHER READING:
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "State Categorical Payments,"
in "A Michigan School Money Primer," May 30, 2007
http://www.mackinac.org/8584

VOLUNTEER COACH FOUND GUILTY IN DEATH OF STUDENT
DETROIT — An Ecorse High School volunteer coach was found guilty
of providing drugs to a 17-year-old girl who then died from an
overdose, according to the Detroit Free Press.

Deleon Alexander II, 28, was found guilty of delivery of a
controlled substance resulting in death, as well as delivery of
a controlled substance. The first charge may result in life in
prison, while the second carries a maximum sentence of 20 years
and a $25,000 fine, the Free Press reported.

In March, Stephanie Brown, then a senior at Wyandotte High
School, collapsed in a hotel after Alexander provided her with
cocaine and ecstasy. Elizabeth Walker, Wayne County deputy chief
of special prosecutions, said that the jury was probably moved
to their decision through the testimony of a medical examiner
who said the student had five times the amount of drugs in her
system necessary to cause death, according to the Free Press.

"I'm certainly very disappointed in the jury's verdict; I think
the jury was just wrong," Alexander's defense attorney Maria
Mannarino told the Free Press. "There were a lot of questions
raised and a lot of reasons to believe what Mr. Alexander did
was not the cause of that young woman's death. ... The
incontrovertible fact was Mr. Alexander delivered a very small
amount of cocaine that was shared with the other girl who
survived."

FURTHER READING:
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, "Parents Still Have an Option
to Check Kids' Safety," Feb. 2, 2006
http://www.mackinac.org/7574

FORMER SALINE SCHOOL STUDENT ARRESTED FOR INTERNET THREATS
SALINE, Mich. — A former Saline Area Schools student was
arrested after making threats against the district on an
internet gaming Web site, according to The Ann Arbor News.

Police arrested the 18-year-old boy at his father's house after
police determined the threats were coming from his computer. All
schools in the district were put on alert and a bomb-sniffing
dog was led through the alternative high school that the boy
last attended a few weeks ago, The News reported.

Ann Arbor Police Chief Paul Bunten did not present the specifics
of the threat but said they involved weapons. However, after
completing an investigation, there was no evidence to support
any intention to cause harm, according to The News.

"We take these situations very seriously and after conducting
our investigation we found there's no credibility to what he was
doing," Bunten told The News. "He was angry and just spouting
off."

The case will be submitted to the city prosecutor for review. The boy was referred to the University of Michigan for a
psychiatric evaluation, The News reported.

FURTHER READING:
Michigan Education Report, "The three P's of school safety:
parents, prevention, and police," Nov. 1, 2001
http://www.mackinac.org/3134

MESSA ACCEPTS MARSHALL DECISION
MARSHALL, Mich. — The Michigan Education Special Services
Association has decided it will not challenge a decision by
Marshall Public Schools to cancel health insurance for
custodians who no longer work for the district, according to the
Battle Creek Enquirer.

MESSA is a third-party administrator affiliated with the
Michigan Education Association school employees union that
outsources insurance underwriting and then resells policies to
school districts.

MESSA originally told Marshall schools that a 30-day notice was
necessary for any policy change, the Enquirer reported. Bonnie
Brooks, a field representative for MESSA, then sent the district
an e-mail stating the 30-day requirement was not valid because
the district and MESSA did not have a current contract. Amy
Jones, Marshall's finance director, told the Enquirer the
district last signed an agreement with MESSA in 1989.

"If you are going to change coverage or remove people from a
group, yes, the 30-day notice is required," Jones told the
Enquirer. "The coverage has been canceled, but it's because they
were laid off. It's been resolved, and it certainly was no error
on behalf of the district."

MICHIGAN EDUCATION DIGEST is a service of Michigan Education
Report (http://www.educationreport.org),
a quarterly newspaper
published by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy
(http://www.mackinac.org),
a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan
research and educational institute.